Jerry Burnes / Mesabi Daily News

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MINNEAPOLIS — In a conference room on the second floor of the Hilton Minneapolis on Tuesday, Feb. 27, Iván Arriagada, the CEO of Chilean mining giant Antofagasta, sat down with some of the most powerful figures northeastern Minnesota and the Iron Range.

MOUNTAIN IRON, Minn. — Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton said he's confident Chippewa Capital Partners will meet the settlement agreement with the state and launch the former Essar Steel Minnesota project. Dayton expressed his optimism to Iron Range mayors Wednesday afternoon and again while addressing the annual meeting of the Range Association of Municipalities and Schools later in the day. "We're going to do everything we possibly can to see that plant rebuilt and brought into production," Dayton said.

MOUNTAIN IRON, Minn. — In the first month of his final year in office, Minnesota Gov. Dayton touted his administration's work on the Iron Range and statewide during a speech to the Range Association of Schools and Municipalities. RAMS represents cities and school boards across the Iron Range, acting as a united advocacy group to the state Legislature and federal officials on issues facing the region.

VIRGINIA, Minn. — Comments made to The New York Times Magazine by environmental leaders Becky Rom and Reid Carron were condemned by Iron Range and statewide leaders Friday, Oct. 13, who called their depiction of miners disrespectful to the working class. Rom and Carron were interviewed as part of a story on the intense copper-nickel debate in Ely, which published online Thursday ahead of its Sunday print issue.

GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. — An oil company's plan to replace an aging pipeline with a new route found strong support Tuesday, Oct. 10, during an afternoon hearing in Grand Rapids. Enbridge has proposed to replace its 50-year-old Line 3 pipeline, a 1,031-mile route from Hardisty, Alberta, to Superior, Wis., that crosses through a handful of Minnesota counties.

Al Franken was famous before this year. Thanks to a past career he is undoubtedly one of the most recognizable members of the U.S. Senate. Which says a lot, considering the chamber boasts former presidential hopefuls like John McCain, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, made famous themselves by duking out debates with future presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump. But until this year, Franken, 65, the Democratic junior senator from Minnesota, was always more famous for his past life of roasting Capitol Hill in his own right as a comedian on Saturday Night Live.

ST. PAUL — Legalizing recreational marijuana would fall into the hands of voters if a proposal by State Rep. Jason Metsa, DFL-Virginia, makes its way through the Legislature. He introduced an amendment to the state constitution Thursday to put a ballot measure for vote in the 2018 general election, allowing for the personal use, possession and purchase of marijuana by permitted users over the age of 21. Metsa admittedly isn't confident the effort will reach a committee hearing but said it's time for Minnesota to start a conversation.

VIRGINIA, Minn. — Northern Minnesota loggers said Wednesday that the region's harvest is down significantly, and with about month left in the winter timber season, the clock is ticking. Industry groups also said that President Donald Trump's notion he will renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) trade deal could result in positive impacts for regional logging companies.